Generation: Hot Coffee
Generation: Hot Coffee was a series of women's T-shirts designed for The Sims 2 by the Dozerfleet founder, as a way to spoof the Hot Coffee Scandal in which Florida lawyer Jack Thompson attacked both The Sims 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for alleged sexual content. It was first suggested in 2005, with a rejected initial shirt design and a more suggestive design created around August 27th of 2006. A design closer to the original, less-offensive version was later used for Dolly's shirt in Ciem in 2007, as there was no way at the time to access the hard drive on which the 2006 design was being stored. History The idea for it came from when the Dozerfleet founder first learned of the Hot Coffee scandal through Wikipedia. Since then, numerous Sims players complained about how only those with access to adults-only sites knew of ways to get their hands on the mods that put adult content in their games. They argued that this made it unfair for Thompson to pursue a lawsuit against Maxis, since it was the third-party sites that were distributing obscene content - not Maxis itself. Maxis argued that it had little control over how third parties violated its content. While the Dozerfleet founder sympathized with the lawsuit against the GTA franchise, the lawsuit against Sims seemed preposterous. As a result, the idea came that women in the game would wear T-shirts that basically stated: "Yeah, we're the generation of Hot Coffee, deal with it!" This image of virtual women rebelling against Thompson soon became a shirt design, that was modified several times for release to Mod The Sims. However, as that site kept increasing its standards regarding what content it would vs. would not allow on its servers, the constantly-improved designs were always rejected. Claims made by Thompson Thompson sued Maxis, accusing the game makers of knowingly installing adult-only content in a game, and then “tricking” the ESRB into giving the game a “T” Rating. He is said to have called the game “a pedophile’s paradise;” and claimed that on adult Sims, one can clearly see nipples, genitals, and pubic hair, and that by typing in a simple cheat: “intProp censorgridsize 0,” the blur could be removed, allowing Sims to engage in all manner of erotica at the hands of any player who so desired. However, a later patch removed this cheat. McKenna, Aaron. "Censors move from HotCoffegate to Simsgate." The Inquirer. Incisive Media Investments Ltd. Monday, July 25th, 2005. 1:02 PM. http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=24883 Masnick, Mike. "Forget Hot Coffee... Those Naked People In The Sims Are The Downfall Of Society." Techdirt. Wednesday, July 27th, 2005. 11:20 AM. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050727/1119209.shtml In truth, only users of adult sites were capable of unlocking such features through the addition of custom content. Those sites in-turn had measures to regulate who used their services, protecting nearly all under-aged users from gaining access to such material. Also, these sites had very strict regulations against child pornography; forbidding users to upload content that sexualized Sims beneath the Teen age designation - and even threatening to alert authorities on users who violated this policy. Thompson lost his case when EA officials pointed out that their skintones are made cartoonish, rather than realistic, along with eyes; as Maxis wanted a “soft, gentle, if not infantile, feel for the game.” Concerning basic issues with nudity, EA lawyers were quick to point out that any such mods void the game's warranty. By default, Sims are “basically just a bunch of Ken and Barbie dolls.” Responsibility was therefore shifted to 3rd parties to make sure that under-18 players cannot gain access to adults-only content. Many of these providers were more than happy to oblige, not wishing any legal trouble for themselves. Jack Thompson was also known for his lawsuit filed against Take Two Interactive, the owners of Rockstar Games. When he sued EA, he said that The Sims 2 was “worse than Hot Coffee.”Surette, Tim. "Sims 2 content 'worse than Hot Coffee'." GameSpot. CNET. July 22nd, 2005. 3:06 PM EDT. http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_6129609.html As a response, Rockstar Games agreed to hold a recall on all “Hot Coffee-infected” versions of the game, and redistribute them in adult stores with the A-O rating. All new packages would have Hot Coffee removed, so the game could continue to receive an M rating. Dozerfleet works alluding to Generation: Hot Coffee clearly wearing a Generation: Hot Coffee T-shirt]] * In the ''Ciem'', Dolly Malestrom sometimes wore a Hot Coffee shirt. * Jen in Corando's "Don't Lose Hope" Music Video wears a Hot Coffee shirt. References Further Reading * "Art of War", part of the blog IllSpirit * "Hot Coffee Splashes Over: What to Expect from the Fallout", part of the Nintendo section of About.com, article by Aaron Stanton External links * Generation: Hot Coffee T-shirt at DzMD Category: DzMD Category: Projects from 2005 Category: Completed projects